House Koji
by mercerlindsey
Summary: Kotori and her brother Takumi have been brought up as thieves. They are assigned the task of stealing from some students at a nearby academy for wealthy students. However, a small boy with ridiculous martial arts skills subdues them. What will come of these two siblings? Hunny X OC. Rated T because I have no idea how this will end
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This first chapter involves no OHSHC members because I have to spend some time setting up the story. It's awful, and I apologize! Anyway, ONWARD**

Blend into the darkness. Assess the target. Wait for the window of opportunity.

I repeated this mantra in my head over and over again until my breathing had slowed and calmed me. I could not mess this job up, or else there wouldn't be anything but trouble waiting for me when I got back to The House. The woman walked past in her opulent silks; her small purse dangled from her wrist. Takumi made a small noise from the alley opposite from me, and I darted out when the woman looked in that direction. I pulled out a small pocket knife that was razor sharp and cut the handle off of her purse. She whipped around and made a noise of surprise, but I was already back in the dark alley, vaulting over a wall at the end. I circled back to pick up Takumi, who had leapt up on the low roof nearest him and jumped down to meet me. We sprinted off as fast as we could toward The House, my grip tight around the full purse.

When we reached the yard that sprawled out in front of House Koji we slowed down to a brisk walk. My legs were burning and I might have twisted my wrist when pulling myself up and over the wall. Takumi breathed heavily and was extremely short of breath. We had never done a job that far away before, and we were definitely feeling the effects of it. Lady Uzumi stepped out of the front door to greet us and snatched up the purse from my scraped hands.

"Were you spotted?"

"No, ma'am," Takumi replied.

"Good. Get inside and wash up for dinner. The children are waiting."

She turned inside and we trudged after her toward the washrooms. I grabbed two cloths and threw one to Takumi before wetting my own and wiping the grime off of my face. I looked in the silver plate above the sink and saw a rough reflection of myself. My ragged hair was dirty and beginning to clump together in thick locks. My eyes were dull from lack of sleep and constant vigorous exercise without much nutrition to compensate. My face was thin, which contrasted with the sinewy muscles I had over the rest of my body; muscles that rivaled a lot of men my age that I met. I sighed and wished that my life was different before Takumi appeared and echoed my thoughts.

"I can't do this much longer, Koto," he said quietly.

I put my head in my hands.

"I know, Takumi, but I don't know how to get out of it. We would have nothing without Lady Uzumi."

He frowned and walked out toward the dining table and I followed. Lady Uzumi and twenty others of varying ages sat and waited, talking quietly. The others were mostly children between the ages of 10-13. Takumi and I were the oldest ones aside from two boys who had been here forever and were nineteen and twenty years old. I sat down and grabbed a bowl of rice, trying to eat as politely as possible even though I could have scarfed it up instantly. Takumi had already finished his and Lady Uzumi smacked him in the face with her fan.

"Don't be disgusting, Takumi. You look like a filthy pig."

He lowered his head and sighed heavily, glancing at me from underneath his hair.

"Kotori, Takumi, I need you to do a job tomorrow afternoon. There is an academy for wealthy and privileged students that lets out around 3 o'clock. Get there around 4:30 p.m. and pick off some stragglers for their coin," Lady Uzumi commanded.

"But we just did a job today and Takumi and I are exhausted!"

She slammed her fist on the table and the youngest children jumped in fear.

"I will not have you question me and my authority, Kotori! You are so insolent for someone with so little! An orphan should _never_ question a Lady such as myself! You _will_ complete this assignment and you _will_ bring back the money that those rich brats carry around!"

Lady Uzumi stood abruptly and slapped me across the mouth before retreating to her bedroom. Some of the children began tearing up and whimpering and I moved quickly to comfort them. Takumi's face was beet red and he was gripping the teacup in his hand so tightly that it cracked. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside.

"Ow, Takumi, that's the wrist that hurts!"

"We have to leave."

"We can't!"

"Tomorrow, while we're on that job. Let's just grab the money from those students and then run off and use it to get a head start before she can find us."

I shook my head sadly at the hope in his voice.

"She'll find us no matter what."

"Dammit, Koto! I can't sit around and watch her beat on you all day!"

"Alright, Taku. Just… let me think about it. I'm going on a walk."

I walked away slowly and sighed. Why did he always do this? Our life was bad now, but it had been even worse before Lady Uzumi had taken us into her "orphanage." Takumi was my older brother by ten months, but sometimes I had to act like the older one. Our mother had died ten years ago when we were 7 and 6, and we had lived on the streets for 5 years before Lady found us. Both of us were starving and Takumi had a bad limp for a wound that kept healing and reopening in a cycle that lasted for four or five months. She took us in and fed and healed us and for a while everything seemed to be on the upswing. When Takumi had turned 14, though, she sent us both out on an "errand" that ended up spiraling out of control and led to us amassing a huge amount of money. After she realized our talent for stealth and charisma, she decided to use us for thievery and swindling. The older boys that lived with her originally were poor pickpockets, so she was grooming them to help her and eventually take over House Koji. As far as I could tell, Takumi and I had no way out.

I walked toward the academy that Lady Uzumi was talking about for the job tomorrow. It was nearly 7 miles away, which would be the farthest we had ever ventured for a job. Running back to The House would be brutal, especially if we ended up grabbing a lot of stuff. I wanted to be familiar with the area before tomorrow. In between The House and the academy was an area I didn't know that was populated with enormous estates. Low mansions sprawled out along large plots of land, with fountains and gardens and high wooden privacy gates. I could see dojos and hear people practicing various fighting techniques. Staying in the shadows, I stuck my face around the side of an archway that led onto an especially large estate. A field of freshly clipped grass ran forever until it finally reached the house in the distance. A large driveway ran along the side of the property until it swooped in front of the grand entrance to the house. Then it ran back along the other side of the property and reconnected back in front of the archway I was standing in. Little garden lights were evenly placed along the side of driveway, and a large lit fountain sprouted from the center of the yard. I stood there in awe and wondered what these people did to make so much money when I heard footsteps behind me. I melted in to the darkness, my heart racing in fear. I didn't want anyone to see me since I would be running through here like a criminal tomorrow. A small blonde boy walked past, accompanied by a tall man with dark hair.

"Takashi, when do you think Hotaru-chan will leave me alone? I don't like her and she is constantly asking me questions while I'm trying to enjoy my cake!" A tiny voice raged.

"Eventually, Mitsukuni." A deep voice answered.

"Usa-chan hates her!" The small boy replied while thrusting a pink bunny up toward his companion's face.

I snorted at the prospect of a stuffed animal hating a person when I realized my mistake. The boy snapped his head in my direction and the tall one tensed and put a hand on the boy.

"Show yourself," He growled deeply and I panicked about what to do. I couldn't show my face or else this whole plan would be ruined. But if I didn't show my face, that tall guy would certainly come after me. I'm built for stealth and speed, not strength and fighting.

The boy walked toward me and I felt like a trapped animal. I waited until he was close and dashed past him, running as fast as I possibly could. He called out after me, but I was so pumped with adrenaline that I barely even heard it. My legs pounded against the pavement and I got home faster than I ever thought possible. I stayed out in the yard for a second to catch my breath before I stalked into The House and flopped onto my bed, falling asleep almost instantly.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: There will be OHSHC boys in this chapter, promise!**

The next afternoon, I wrapped my wrist and found Takumi wrapping his left ankle. He said it started bothering him this morning when he woke up, and I knew we were in for trouble later. The long run we did yesterday was going to be almost double today, and I was extremely worried that Takumi would not be able to handle the seven mile run we would have to do. Also, because it would be daylight out, we wouldn't have the advantage of the darkness and shadow. This whole situation seemed pretty hopeless and I kept having wild fantasies about us being caught or killed. Takumi's voice shifted me out of my thoughts.

"Ready, Sis?"

I nodded and sighed shakily. An ominous feeling kept creeping over me, but I shook it off and headed out the door.

We walked for what seemed like forever. It took at least two hours just for us to get to the school. It was around 4:00, so we scouted the area for a good location. The academy was unreal. It had several monolithic buildings that looked ancient and were carved and decorated everywhere. Fountains sprouted up in various places and flowers bloomed in every available place. The main building had "Ouran Academy" carved in large letters above the enormous entrance. I did notice, however, that students had to walk a way from the building to where all the drivers were parked. We would have to use that small window of opportunity to strike, and I didn't like the large chance there was of us being seen and getting caught.

"Takumi, this place and this job are dangerous. I feel like Lady Uzumi sent us here to be hurt."

"Nonsense, I think she's just getting so greedy that she isn't taking the necessary precautions she usually takes. But we can't go back empty-handed or else she will-"

"I know what she'll do!" I snapped back.

We crept over to a niche where we would not be seen until someone was right next to us, so we would at least have the advantage of surprise. It was shadowed by a large statue that Takumi stood behind to assume his usual bait position. My heart was pounding as a group of boys walked toward us. There were seven of them, way too many for us to handle, so I tried to give Takumi the signal to leave them be. He wasn't looking at me, though. He was looking at the students' watches, rings, cell phones, wallets, and everything else that glittered or gleamed on them. I frantically tried to wave him off, but he leapt out at them as they got close and ran as fast as he could.

"Fuck!" I cursed and mentally panicked about what I should do. This wasn't even the usual tactic we used. I was faster, so Takumi usually never did anything where speed was absolutely essential. But here he was, dashing toward these guys like he was going to mow them down. They hadn't even noticed him yet because he was running wide and was coming up behind them. At the last minute, I noticed the boy and the man from yesterday and my heart dropped, knowing we were horribly outnumbered and outranked. As Takumi neared them, the tallest one turned his head and barked an order at everyone. They whipped around and grouped together, with the tallest one and the smallest one defending the front. I dashed as quickly as I could with the distraction and grabbed a necklace off of the effeminate looking boy, and then snatched a wallet out of the hands of a red head. They turned around and yelled in surprise, which caught the attention of the small blond boy. He flipped over top of everyone and lunged for me. I dodged and dashed as fast as I could toward Takumi, who was busy dodging ridiculous attacks from the tallest one. Takumi was quickly being outmatched, and it was worse when his ankle twisted a weird way and he cried out, falling to the ground.

"Takumi!" I cried, and ran over to throw myself in front of him. The small boy was back over to us, and he grabbed my arm and flipped me away from my brother, but I took the chance to swing a punch that connected with his face right as I landed on my back.

"Mitsukuni!" The tall boy yelled, trying to make sure he was okay. The small boy shrugged him off and walked over to us, his chest heaving with anger. I couldn't even catch my breath from being flipped so hard, and Takumi whimpered and held his ankle.

"What a mistake," the small boy spat out at us. I tossed the wallet at him and he caught it and threw it back at the red-headed boy I stole it from. The necklace, unfortunately, had broken when I ripped it off the other boy's neck, and I handed it to him meekly. He snatched it from me and fumed when he saw it was broken. His eye was quickly turning dark from where I had punched it, and it was spreading around to his nose as well. He didn't seem to notice the pain, though, as he sneered down at me and snarled.

"I ought to call the police on you."

I turned toward him and swung again, but he grabbed my fist and twisted it enough to make me grimace.

"You're the girl from yesterday."

I looked away, embarrassed that I had to sit here and be humiliated by a boy that looked like he was 12 years old.

"What's your name?"

I stared over at Takumi, who was just raising himself to a sitting position. I glared at him and he refused to meet my gaze, aware that this entire thing was his fault.

"Hunny-senpai, maybe we should just go," a taller blond boy suggested.

"You guys can go, Tama-chan."

The red-heads and the taller blond boy slowly turned and walked away, pulling the effeminate brunette boy with them. A boy in glasses walked over to the boy and asked if he should call his personal police squad.

"No, Kyo-chan, I think we've got it covered."

The boy in glasses walked away after the others, leaving only the small blond boy and the tall guy with dark hair.

"What is your name?" He asked again.

I jumped up and tried to take off, but then I remembered that Takumi was practically crippled and I sank to my knees and put my head in my hands. What were we even supposed to do?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ouran, I do not own.**

"Koto, I'm sorry." Takumi said, limping over to me and rubbing my back. I threw his arm off and looked away.

"So your name's Koto?" The boy asked.

"It's Kotori," I whispered.

"What's your last name?"

"Nagata. That's my brother, Takumi."

"You should've never tried to attack us."

I nodded. "Will you call the police already? I can't bear to sit here anymore."

"They're on their way," the tall guy replied quietly.

They stood there looking down on us until a single police car arrived. The two officers got out and practically kissed the feet of both students before roughly shoving Takumi and me on the ground and cuffing us. The officer shoved his knee into my back before pulling me up and shoving me into the squad car.

"Koto, please, I-"

"Why, Taku? There were seven people. Why would you ever do that?"

"I just saw all their stuff and how rich they were. I got mad, because we never got that kind of stuff and here they are, just flaunting it."

"They're rich! And apparently, two of them are trained in martial arts! You aren't even fast! The running is _my_ job, not yours."

"I screwed up."

"That's an understatement. You wanted to get away from Lady Uzumi, well here you go," I huffed. He lowered his head and I turned away to look out the window. The officers were still talking to the students, but the blond boy's eyes were directed at the car. What struck me as odd was that he didn't look angry anymore, he looked interested.

When we got to the station, the officers threw us into two separate cells that were facing each other. Takumi kept trying to talk to me, but I just lay down and turned my face to the wall and cried.

I woke up early the next morning to the sound of the officer giving us a tray of food.

"Can't let you two out into the cafeteria yet, I'm afraid you'll escape."

_Smart thinking_. I thought.

I devoured the meal as fast as possible, and I looked over to see Takumi doing the same thing. I don't think we'd eaten this much in months. Immediately after I was finished eating, I couldn't keep my eyes open and I drifted off into a light sleep.

Lunch time came around and the officer brought Taku and I our lunches, which we ate with just as much gusto as we had with breakfast. This time, however, another officer came in and announced we had visitors. The seven boys we tried to mug yesterday were now staring at me and Takumi in our cells like we were zoo animals. I felt sick and set my tray on the ground and pushed it away, turning toward the wall.

"Nagata Takumi, tell me who you two work for," the boy in the glasses demanded. I whipped my head around and glared at Taku, hoping he would realize that he was not to tell them anything.

"Her name is Lady Uzumi, but I don't know her last name."

I threw my hands up and shook my head. When will this boy learn to read my signals?

"She runs House Koji, an orphanage that's a front for her to take kids off the street and train them to be pickpockets and cutpurses. She also teaches the eloquent ones to swindle people and cheat them out of things."

"Takumi!"

"Goddamnit Koto! I fucking hate that woman! I hope they catch her and string her up! I can barely read because she provides such shitty schooling! We weren't going to go anywhere stuck there with her."

My face flushed and I glared even harder at him. How could he just say that in front of them? Luckily, I was quicker with school than he was, and I made sure to finish my lessons that she brought home from the local school. Taku rarely did his unless I begged him to do them.

I understood why he was so willing to give up information, but I couldn't say it was a smart thing to do. He was hoping that these people would help us out, but I knew that all they wanted was to get rid of a source of crime. Then I thought about all the kids that were there. The ones who were young and still had a chance to learn and make something of themselves. Takumi and I would probably spend our lives in and out of jail and on the streets, but those kids still had hope.

"I'll give you the address, but you have to promise not to harm the young children there. I won't do it unless they are provided for!" I said fiercely.

The boy in glasses seemed surprised on hearing about children. Maybe he thought it was just us and Lady Uzumi, but he needed to know about the innocent people who could be affected.

"That will be taken care of, Miss Nagata."

I nodded and told him the address in a low voice. I felt like I was betraying the one woman who I actually hated. It was some weird form of loyalty that I didn't totally understand. The boys turned to leave when I thought of one last thing.

"Hey!"

They turned, but I turned but attention to the girlish looking boy.

"I'm sorry I broke your necklace."

He nodded curtly. "It's alright, there wasn't any sentimental value. It was just a cheap necklace."

They turned and left, but the blond boy turned back and walked over to me.

"Why did you do it?" He asked.

"Do what?"

"Apologize?"

"Because I never meant to break anything. We were forced to do this, I never wanted any of this."

He nodded.

"We feel guilty every time we steal something," Takumi added.

"Have you ever harmed anyone?"

"No!" I yelled, horrified.

"Well," I teared up. "Not until I punched you in the face."

He laughed.

"It's okay, Takashi's accidentally punched me way harder than that before."

"Who?"

"Oh, Morinozuka Takashi." He pointed to the tall guy I had seen him with a few days ago.

"I'm Haninozuka Mitsukuni, but everyone just calls me Hunny. Well, no, not everybody I guess."

"It's nice to meet you."

He turned to Morinozuka and whispered something, who nodded in return. Then Hunny ran off to a room I couldn't see.

"Well, that was rude," Taku said.

About ten minutes later, an officer came back with the keys and unlocked the cell. I looked at him like he was crazy.

"Your bail got posted." He explained.

"What?! By who?"

"By me!" Hunny ran back in as the officer was walking away.

"Wait, what about my brother?"

"I didn't have enough money with me to get both of you. I'll have to come back tomorrow to pay for him."

"I can't leave my brother," I stated and walked back into my cell.

"Koto, don't be stupid," Taku said. "I have a lot of food here and I can get a good night's sleep. I'm more worried about where you're going."

"Well to my house, of course. We need a maid! I called my family and they agreed to take Kotori on as a maid and you on as a groundskeeper, Takumi!"

"I'm not anyone's servant," I growled.

"Koto! Quit being an idiot! This is a job! With food, and money, and hopefully somewhere to sleep that isn't Lady Uzumi's! Go with him! I'll see you tomorrow."

I looked at Takumi helplessly while he reached out through the bars and ruffled my hair, a half smile on his face.

"It's our new beginning, little sister."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I can't stop updating this story for some reason. Also, I don't own Ouran characters or their fantastically opulent lives. But oh, how I wish I did.**

We arrived at the Haninozuka household and I laughed out loud.

"What is it Kotori?"

I shook my head. This was the house I had been ogling on my way to Ouran before Hunny and Mori had passed by. It was just as beautiful during the day, because the sun shone down on the water in the fountain and sparkled everywhere.

Hunny was just getting out of the car when a boy with light brown hair approached. He looked a lot like Hunny, but older. No, younger. I don't even know how old Hunny is, so I guess I can't really judge other people based on him.

"Mitsukuni." The boy said plainly.

"Chika." He responded.

Mori suddenly grabbed me by the shoulders and lifted me out of the way. Chika flew at Hunny and Hunny dodged. They fought so fast I could barely even see what was going on. Chika produced a pipe and started swinging it as hard as he could, but Hunny grabbed it and ripped it out of his hands. He tossed it aside and waited for Chika to attack.

Why was he just standing there?

Chika lunged again at him and Hunny ducked and swept his leg underneath Chika. Chika's legs flew out from under him and he collapsed onto the ground as Hunny lightly chopped Chika's head.

"I win!" Hunny exclaimed proudly.

Chika frowned and dusted himself off as he stood up. He looked me up and down and his frown grew deeper.

"Is this the new maid, Mitsukuni?"

Hunny nodded, grabbed my wrist and started to run toward the house. Unfortunately, he grabbed the wrist that had been bothering me and I couldn't help but flinch from the sting that shot up my arm.

"Shit," I hissed.

He released my arm immediately and spun around.

"Kotori-chan? What's wrong?"

"I just hurt my wrist a few days ago, that's all. Not a big deal."

He took my arm and ran his other hand along my wrist to see what was wrong with it. When his fingers got to the underside of my wrist, I involuntarily jerked in pain.

"Kotori-chan, you should see a doctor," he said worriedly.

"No, no I think it's just a sprain, it's really nothing."

I snatched my arm out of his hands and started walking toward this new house I would be staying in.

Hunny ran past and showed me all the bells and whistles of the house, which were quite a few. The house had its own dojo, which was also connected to the Morinozuka household on the opposite side. There were flowers everywhere, which I thought was funny since the Haninozukas obviously are RIDCULOUS FIGHTERS.

I gawked at the outrageousness of this house. How could one family even acquire so much money? What did it feel like to grow up in a place like this?

"Whatcha thinking about?" Hunny asked.

"What my life would be like if I had grown up somewhere like this."

He looked at me for a long time and didn't say anything. As he was about to say something, I cut him off.

"So, where am I staying?"

"Oh, you have to stay in Servants' part of the house, it's over here; I'll introduce you to everyone."

With that, he dragged me through the house and over to a spacious wing that had several rooms on a long hallway.

"Choko!"

A small woman peeked her head around.

"Yes, Master Mitsukuni?"

"This is Kotori, the new girl that Father should have told you about."

She nodded and motioned for me to go to her. I started to walk over there when I turned around to Hunny.

"Thanks for getting me out of there."

He half-smiled. "You're welcome. Let me know how everything is going later."

I joined Choko and she showed me the room where I would be staying. It was bigger than the room I had at The House, and found myself thinking of Takumi. How surprised would he be when he saw the luxuriousness of this house where we would be living? Choko opened the closet and told me that I had it all to myself (a new concept for me) and I suddenly was embarrassed. I had no clothes except the ones I was currently wearing. I told her so, and she looked at me for a minute.

"Well, there's a uniform I can give you, but I don't really have anything else I can give." She thought for a while and then said: "I'll ask the other ladies if they can spare anything."

"Thank you very much." I nodded modestly and felt like crying.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I don't own Ouran or its characters.**

The next day, I woke up and put on the uniform that Choko had given me the night before. It was a little baggy in the chest area and needed to be hemmed a little, but it fit well otherwise. I pulled my raggedy hair up into a bun and pinned it. I opened the door and looked around, but I didn't see anyone walking around. Choko suddenly popped her head around the corner and smiled brightly.

"Ah, Kotori, I was just coming to wake you up! It's a good thing you are an early riser."

"What time is it, Choko?"

"It's nearly 5:30, you need to go wake up Master Mitsukuni so that he can get ready for school. But be careful, he's a terrible grouch in the morning. I wouldn't get too close."

She directed me to his room and then dashed off before I could ask any more questions. I knocked lightly and then scooted the door open a little and peered in. There was a lump in the middle of the bed, and I apprehensively walked over to it. Hunny looked like a little boy when he slept and I had to stifle a laugh that was threatening to come out. I put my hand on his shoulder and tapped him.

"Hey, wake up."

His eyes flashed open and I nearly screamed. That angelic face had instantly become completely homicidal. He was even baring his teeth at me like a freaking animal.

"No." He growled and turned over. I regained my composure and tried again.

"Please wake up. It's time to get ready for school."

He growled even louder this time.

"Master Mitsukuni, please."

He turned back toward me.

"Don't call me that. I'm not your master, Kotori."

"Well, will you get up?"

He sighed and heaved himself out of the bed. I got up and left when I was sure he was up and wouldn't just fall back asleep after I left. Choko was standing outside with bandages and peroxide. She looked stunned when I shut the door.

"Is he awake?"

"Yes," I said warily. "What's with the bandages?"

"Well, he usually beats up whoever wakes him up," she replied, chagrined.

"What?! And you sent me in there, knowing that was probably going to happen?!"

"We take turns, Kotori, and you're the newbie. But I'm thinking now that you might be doing it every morning, since he was nice for you. Now, go wake up Master Yasuchika. He's a breeze to get up."

I sighed as I followed her directions to Chika's room. When I knocked on the door, Chika actually opened it himself.

"What?"

"Uh, time to get ready for school."

"Obviously." He said before slamming the door in my face. Really, these two brothers were just the nicest people.

I walked back toward the main area and ran into Choko again. She dragged me toward the kitchen and introduced me to the head of the Haninozuka clan, Yorihisa, and his wife. They seemed like very nice people, but I didn't really get the chance to talk to them because Choko started to show me how to make breakfast. A few other servants were in the kitchen helping us. I was in the middle of doing something with eggs when Hunny and Chika walked in. Hunny looked right at me with a confused look on his face.

"Why aren't you getting ready?" He asked.

"What?" I was equally confused.

"You're only 17, you need to go to school."

Choko whipped her head around and looked at me in horror.

"Why didn't you tell me?! It takes so much preparation to get you enrolled in the local public school!" She sank to the ground.

"I'm sorry! I didn't think about it because Lady Uzumi home schooled us! I pretty much just taught myself everything."

Yorihisa looked at me and sighed.

"You have to go to school. An education is very important, especially if you ever want to get out of being a maid."

That hit a sore spot.

"Well she can't go today! I haven't even contacted them!" Choko was practically screaming.

"Mitsukuni, bring home additional lessons for Kotori and teach her the things you learn when you get home. This will have to do until Choko can get approval from the school. I'll call Chairman Suoh and have him approve everything," Yorihisa directed.

Hunny nodded and sat down at the table. Choko and I finished making breakfast and we set it out for everyone. Then she grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the servants' dining room. There were about 25 people seated around a long table, and the breakfast was less grand than the one we had just made for the Haninozukas. I sat down and Choko introduced me to everyone.

"This is Kotori, she's the newest addition to our family. Her brother, Takumi will be joining you boys," Choko motioned toward a younger group of guys that were clustered around one end of the table. They were heavily built and must have been groundskeepers.

"Also, ladies, if any of you have spare clothes, Kotori needs them. She escaped from her home and didn't bring any with her."

I wondered if that was what the Haninozukas had told her or if she was just being kind and sparing me the embarrassment of saying I was in jail.


	6. Chapter 6

I sat and ate quietly while commotion happened all around me. The younger maids were tittering on about something stupid and kept giggling horribly. The older maids looked talked about the plans for the day and some town gossip. The groundskeepers, a rowdy group of five guys, were roaring about some lewd joke one of them had made. One of them kept looking over at Choko and me while smirking. A bell sounded and one of the older drivers got up and walked out toward the front of the house, probably to take Hunny and Chika to school.

Choko told me to walk in to the other room and clear the table from the family's breakfast then to clear ours and do all the dishes. It was incredible how many dishes that ended up being. I spent a good hour just cleaning dishes by hand and giving them to her to dry and put away. Then we went to the rooms and cleared everyone's sheets for cleaning. Luckily, most of the staff did not sleep at the Haninozuka household; most of them went home before dinner and came back to eat breakfast here. Apparently, the only people who stayed were Choko, a younger maid named Eiko, a groundskeeper named Yuuji, and then Takumi and me.

I followed Choko around and helped her do the chores she normally did throughout the day. I even gave her some suggestions on ways to make things go smoother or more quickly, and she was very open to it, which was a surprise to me. Anytime I had ever suggested anything to Lady Usumi, she had slapped me and told me to shut up.

Around 4:30, Choko and I were sweeping the front porch of the main house when a black limo pulled up. Mori stepped out of it and moved aside for Hunny to get out. But it wasn't Hunny who came out first. Takumi poked his head out and his eyes were about to pop out of his face when he saw the house. I dropped the broom I was holding and sprinted over to him as fast as I could.

"Taku!"

"Koto!" He yelled and hopped out of the car just in time to pull me into a hug. We had never been separated and had never spent a night away from each other. Tears were pooling in my eyes as he held me back by the shoulders to look at me.

"Little sister, why are you crying?"

"I missed you."

He grinned and hugged me again, whirling me around in a circle. We were acting like we hadn't seen each other in weeks. I saw Hunny get out of the limo and smile at the mushy reunion we were currently having.

Takumi set me down and looked at Hunny.

"So, where do I go?"

Choko came out with one of the groundskeepers just then. He walked down to us and eyed me creepily; he had been the one doing that at breakfast.

"I'm Yuuji, one of the groundskeepers."

Great, he lives here, too.

"I'm Takumi, and this is my sister, Kotori."

"I know who she is," Yuuji sneered. "Come on, I'll show you where you'll be staying."

Takumi and Yuuji walked off toward the dojos, which is where they would be staying since most of their work involved maintaining and cleaning the dojos. I watched them walked off and hoped that I would be able to spend more time with Takumi later.

"Kotori-chan! Are you ready for your lessons?" Hunny beamed at me, waiting for my answer.

"Uh, sure, Master Haninozuka."

He frowned and was about to say something when Yasuchika walked over.

"Have you even had any proper schooling? Can you read?"

"Yes, I can read, Master Haninozuka," I said through gritted teeth.

He scoffed and walked off toward his room. I fumed and tried to get myself under control before I exploded and ended up beating his ass. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Mori.

"Yasuchika means well. He was worried Mitsukuni's lessons would be too difficult for you since you haven't had any schooling in a while."

"Oh."

"Yeah Kotori! But I told him that you were way smart, so you wouldn't need to start with his lessons, you could just start on mine! Let's go!" With that, he grabbed my wrist, taking care not to grab the injured one, and dashed off. We passed Choko and Hunny asked her if she would bring us some sweets while we were studying. Then Hunny dragged me into a room with big desks and an enormous number of books.

"Wow, there are so many books in here! Have you read them all?" I asked in wonder.

"Oh no, Kotori-chan, there are way too many! Takashi has read a lot of them though, right?"

"Yeah."

I walked around, running my hands over the spines lined up on the shelves. Some of the books looked very, very old and some of them looked almost brand new. I wanted to sit in here for eternity and look at each and every book to see what it was about. I could feel Hunny watching me as I walked around, but I didn't care. I would definitely come back here when I had free time.

"Are you ready to start?" Mori asked.

I nodded and sat at a desk in-between them as they went over the stuff they learned in class that day. All of it was incredibly difficult, and I had to have them explain things over and over until I finally understood. It was painstaking and I thought for sure they were both annoyed, but Hunny kept giving me reassuring smiles, and Mori kept telling me I was doing a good job. It felt nice to have positive reinforcement for once, instead of constantly hearing that I wasn't good at anything.

Choko came in about an hour after we had started, her arms laden with cakes and cookies. Eiko followed with a pot of tea and some cups and sat down near us to do her homework.

"Hello Eiko," I said softly as she sat down. She had folded her tiny frame into a gigantic fluffy chair and took out a small packet of papers. I noticed she kept looking at Mori while we were studying, and she would blush when she saw that I was looking.

We ate sweets and studied until it was dinner time. Choko came in and told us all to go to the dining room. Eiko and I headed to the servants' room while Hunny and Mori sat with the Haninozukas. I sat between Takumi and Eiko, while Yuuji sat across from us.

"So Takumi, how was everything?" I asked while putting some vegetables in my bowl.

"It was great, Koto! This place is amazing! I can't believe people live like this!"

I smiled at him and we ate. Takumi told me stories of the things he had seen or done in the few hours since he had been here, and how great everything was. Eiko joined in and smiled or laughed at the things we were saying. Yuuji, however, looked at my brother with a dark look in his eye, and hardly said a word the whole time.

I cleared the dishes after we were done. I spent about an hour cleaning them again, with Eiko drying this time.

"So Eiko, how did you come to be a maid here?"

"Oh, well, my parents are very poor and couldn't really afford to feed me and my younger sister, Ayaka. Choko is my mother's friend, and she said she needed some help around this estate and that I could live here and be fed, so that my parents wouldn't have to take care of me. Ayaka is a maid at the Morinozuka estate. We see each other all the time, actually. She usually comes over when she's having trouble with her school work, but I guess she didn't need any help today."

"So, do you ever see your parents?"

"No, they moved away after we got here because they were so embarrassed that they had to 'give away their children.' I'm not sure where they are now," She said sadly.

"Well, who needs them anyway? If they couldn't even take care of you, why did they even have kids? That's my theory. If you can't afford to have kids, then you should never have them! There's no point bringing more suffering into this world when it's already full to bursting with it!" I was practically yelling. Eiko's eyes were large and she had backed away a little bit.

"I'm sorry, Eiko. My own background gets to me sometimes," I smiled weakly. She nodded and went back to cleaning the dishes, in silence.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey everyone sorry it's been awhile since I updated. I'm in my last semester of nursing school and it pretty much takes up my life. I've got a lot of things planned for this story, so be excited! This is a super long chapter, and it was a sort of rough scene toward the end. It's not too graphic though, so everyone should be okay. Also, Hunny is extremely angry at the end, so it might seem like he is OOC but I sort of feel like this is how he would be if he were fully enraged (he is AB blood type after all).

Every day seemed to pass the same way that first one did. I would wake up at 5:30, go wake up Hunny, who woke up fairly well for me every time to the dismay of the other maids. Then I would go make sure Chika was awake (he always was), and head over to the kitchen to help make breakfast. After that, I would clean the table and help Choko do chores until around noon. Then we would make lunch and clean up that, and then do more chores until 4:30, when Hunny and Chika got home from school/club activities. Then Hunny, Eiko, and I would head over to the massive library and do our lessons. Then I would help make dinner and clear that and be finished by around 8:00. I had free time after that, but I usually just ended up talking to Takumi for a little bit before collapsing on my bed and falling asleep.

The weekend came up pretty quickly and I wondered how it would be different from the rest of the week. Friday night after cleaning up dinner, I was headed to my room when I heard my name called.

"Koto!"

I turned around to see Takumi heading towards me.

"What's up, Taku?"

"The guys and I are hanging out and I wanted to see if you wanted to come with me?" He asked, hopefully.

"Is Yuuji going to be there?"

"Yes," He said apprehensively. "Why?"

"Then I'm not going." I turned around and headed back to my room. Takumi grabbed my wrist (the one that hurt) and spun me around, looking angry.

"Why don't you like him, Kotori? He's a cool guy; he's really helped me out since we got here!"

"He's so creepy! He's constantly looking at me in this way that makes me want to hide myself behind something!"

"Don't flatter yourself! What makes you think that he even thinks of you like that? Ever since you started having private lessons with that mini-nozuka you've been acting all high and mighty!" He fumed. I stared at him with a hard look. I couldn't decide if I wanted to smack him or walk away with dignity. The first option sounded much more appealing and I was about to choose it when Eiko appeared from around the corner.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I was just coming to find you two to see if you wanted to spend some time together? It's Friday night so we don't have to get up so early and I-"

"I'm sure Kotori here is _way_ too busy being snobby to hang out with anyone, Eiko." Takumi snapped. That was it, that final straw.

I balled up my left hand into a fist and raised my right hand to slap him as hard as I could. While he was stunned from that I punched him in the cheek with my left fist. He staggered back and looked at me, confused.

"Koto-"

"No! You're lucky I punched you with my left fist instead of my right! You have no right to insult me for trying to further my education and become a better person. You could go to school too, you just don't want to. So you aren't allowed to make me feel like shit for going." I was breathing heavily out of anger.

Eiko had her hands covering her mouth and was silent. Takumi frowned at me and we stared each other down for a while before he finally sighed and looked defeated.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry, Koto."

He swung his arm around me and pulled me into a tight hug.

"Don't let anything drive a wedge between us, okay?" I whispered. He nodded fiercely and hugged me tighter. When we separated, Eiko had tears in her eyes.

"Eiko?" Takumi walked closer to her and she burst into tears.

"Oh my gosh you two are so adorable! I have never seen such loyalty from siblings in my life!"

Taku and I looked at each other and then shrugged.

"Let's go," he mumbled and led us to where the groundskeepers were hanging out.

When we got to the "party" I saw it was actually in the dojo.

"Takumi, we can't have a party in there!" Eiko whispered loudly.

"Calm down, it's fine. Yuuji said they do it all the time!" Taku said, dragging us into the dojo.

He shoved us through the door and the groundskeepers all turned toward us. They all waved or said hello before turning around and talking amongst them. I lightened up a little after I realized they wouldn't be annoying since we were the only girls there. Takumi grabbed a drink and handed me one. It smelled like nail polish remover.

"Ew Taku, no thanks."

"What? It's high-grade whiskey, sis. You have to drink it."

"Is that from Master Haninozuka's liquor cabinet?" Eiko asked nervously asked.

"I don't know," Takumi answered, looking at the drink with apprehension. He took another swig and shrugged.

Just then, Yuuji appeared out of nowhere.

"Ah, good to see some female faces here, if you know what I mean," He said slyly. I shivered at how freaking creepy he was and walked over to look at the drinks. All I wanted was water, but it seemed like there were tons of bottles all filled with liquor. I sat down the drink Takumi gave me and sighed, wondering what time it was.

"Getting late," Yuuji said from behind me.

"Get lost, Yuuji."

"Oh, so feisty I see. I like 'em feisty," he whispered this last part right in my ear. I jumped back and walked back over to Eiko, rubbing the back of my neck.

"I think I'm going to go, Eiko, this isn't really for me."

I don't even think she heard me, because she was staring at Takumi while he was talking to one of the other groundskeepers. I thought she had a thing for Mori, but apparently she's got something else for my brother now.

"Eiko."

"I heard you, Kotori. You go on, I'm going to stay here a while."

I nodded and walked out of the dojo and headed back toward my room. On the way there, I had to walk between two buildings, the dojo and some other building that had offices in it. It was pretty dark between them, kind of like an alley way. I walked through the alley and turned around.

_Damn, I forgot to tell Takumi that I was leaving. I hope Eiko tells him and that he doesn't worry._

As I was thinking this, a hand landed on my shoulder. I nearly screamed when I turned around and saw Yuuji.

"Lost, little thief?" He asked.

I backed away.

"No, just thinking about something. I'll be on my way now."

I went to walk past him when he grabbed my hurt wrist and twisted it in a horribly uncomfortable position. I let out an involuntary yelp of pain and Yuuji clapped a hand over my mouth.

"Not yet, princess. I've been eyeing you all week and you've been nothing but a tease. I don't know if you think you can whore around with the Haninozuka heir, but you're just a piece of trash compared to him. You'd be lucky just to have me."

He slammed me up against the wall to the dojo with his hand still covering my mouth. I thrashed my arms and kicked out with my legs. My right foot connected with his shin and he hissed in pain and let go of my mouth to grab his leg. I hadn't even realized that he had had me pinned up against the wall, so I fell to my knees when he let go. I took the opportunity to scream for help while I tried to get up as quickly as I could. I got about two steps in before he tackled me to the ground.

"Goddamn bitch! You've just made this harder for yourself."

He kneed the middle of my back like the police had done when Takumi and I were arrested. He bent close to my ear to say something but I reared my head back and hit him in the nose. Again, he lost his grip on me and I struggled free. When I got up, he grabbed my hurt wrist again and wrenched it. I was surprised it hadn't broken by now, honestly. I screamed even louder and started to sob. I couldn't see a way out of this because Yuuji kept recovering before I could get away. He whipped me around and punched me in the eye. I fell to the ground and screamed again as loud as I could. He straddled me and covered my mouth and nose with his hand.

"That's it. Just shut up." He whispered, while trying to unzip his pants. I writhed underneath him, trying to get away, but I couldn't. I was about to just give up and let him do it when he flew off of me.

He landed a few feet away and looked around, confused. I saw someone standing at the end of the alley, but I couldn't see who it was. Someone was at the other end too, and it sort of looked like Hunny.

"Back off, Yuuji," Hunny said as he stepped toward him. Yuuji stood up and then crouched down like he was ready to fight. I stood up and tried to see if I could run and get away from Yuuji, but that person was still on the other end of the alley. Yuuji dashed at Hunny, but Hunny dodged it and grabbed Yuuji's arm. He swung Yuuji around and flung him to the ground, then punched him in the face.

"How's it feel?" Hunny asked sadistically. He punched him again and I took the chance to run past him. Hunny reached out to me as I ran past, but I swerved and avoided him.

"Kotori!" He yelled, but I was too far away already.

Lucky for me, the adrenaline in my body only served to make me go even faster. I pumped my legs as hard I could and headed off toward the front entrance of the estate. I saw Mr. and Mrs. Haninozuka heading out back toward the dojo to see what all the commotion was about. I melded into the darkness as they walked past, but they didn't see me even though I was only a few feet away. After they walked past, I dashed through the front entrance. I heard Mrs. Haninozuka gasp and heard Mr. Haninozuka call out after me. I turned and ran about another half mile before the adrenaline shut off and I slowed down to catch my breath. My hands shook and I was breathing unsteadily. My heart was pounding, my eyes were tearing up and all I wanted to do was lie own and go to sleep. I wish I hadn't followed Takumi to that stupid party.


	8. Chapter 8

I sat on the sidewalk for at least half an hour when a sleek black luxury car pulled up next to me. I jumped up and backed away. The window rolled down and I remembered that blonde boy that Hunny had called "Tama-chan." I guess he was in a club with Hunny.

"Aren't you that girl that robbed us and is now Hunny-senpai's maid?"

I nodded.

"What are you doing out here?"

I shook my head.

"Do you need a ride?"

I looked away. I didn't want this guy to know why I was out here.

"Come on; let me drive you back to the Haninozuka estate. Jump in."

He smiled brightly and I found myself having a hard time saying no to him. I reluctantly opened up the car door and he scooted over to let me in. He opened up his cell phone and dialed a number.

"Hunny-senpai? Sorry it's so late, but I have someone you might be looking for."

He held the phone back as screams came from the phone.

"She's in one piece, I'll bring her back now."

He hung up the phone and looked at me.

"That eye doesn't look so good."

"An eye for an eye, I guess. I did punch Master Haninozuka in the eye if you recall."

He let out a peal of laughter at that comment.

"You are quite the entertaining lady, miss. What is your name?"

"Nagata Kotori."

"A lovely name indeed. I'm Suou Tamaki. I'm in a host club with Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai. We entertain girls such as yourself at the club."

"Well I won't be going to Ouran. The Haninozukas will probably just send me to the public school across from it."

He nodded and smiled at me again. I couldn't help but smile back at this guy. Tamaki was so cheerful and smiley it was infectious, I think.

We pulled up to the Haninozuka estate and I was embarrassed to see all the Haninozukas standing there, waiting. I thanked Tamaki and stepped out of the car. As Tamaki pulled away, I trudged over to the Haninozukas, who looked furious.

"I can't believe you ran off," Mrs. Haninozuka said.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled and looked down at the ground. I had run off like a petulant child and now I was being scolded.

"We were worried about you," Mr. Haninozuka said.

"What?" I responded incredulously.

"We thought maybe Yuuji had…" Mrs. Haninozuka trailed off.

I shook my head fiercely.

"No, Master Mitsukuni got there before that could happen."

"Well, we're glad you're okay. Why don't you take the day off tomorrow and just relax."

Mr. and Mrs. Haninozuka turned and walked back into the house. Chika walked forward and bent down to look at me eye-to-eye.

"Well I don't think Yuuji will be an issue anymore. We switched him over to the Morinozuka household, so there shouldn't be any problems. Let us know if something comes up."

He began walking toward the house then turned around and smiled at me before going inside.

_ I guess he's not so bad after all,_ I thought.

"Kotori, I…" Hunny began, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Thank you," I whispered, tears welling up in my eyes. I rushed forward and hugged him tightly, thankful that he came and helped me. He was shocked at first, but eventually wrapped his arms around me and hugged me back.

"When I heard you screaming I-I thought maybe he had already…" Hunny stuttered, choking near the end.

"No, I'm okay."

He held me away from him and looked down at my baggy shirt that was torn off my shoulder and the skirt I had pinned to the shirt so it wouldn't fall down. The pin had been lost at some point, so the skirt was starting to slip down my hips.

"Are those your clothes?" He asked.

"Um, no. I didn't have any of my clothes from House Koji, so I had to borrow from Choko and the other maids who had hand-me-downs. I'm saving up to buy a few things, though," I smiled weakly at him after saying this.

"Kotori-chan, why didn't you tell us? I can get you some new clothes."

"No I couldn't ask for that! I just wish I had had the chance to grab the ones I had at the House."

"Tomorrow on your day off, we're going clothes shopping. You just have to wait until after I get done in the dojo. By the way, my dad is really mad about the groundskeepers having a party in there, but I got Takumi out of it because he's so new and the other guys probably would have made fun of him if he had refused to go."

I knew that this was only partially true. Takumi was the newest person and typically went along with everyone's crazy schemes, but he knew right from wrong. Unfortunately, he tended to make the wrong choices quite often.

"Thank you Mast-"

"No, Kotori. I'm tired of being called that. You can call me that around the other maids or whatever makes you feel comfortable, but I want you to call me Hunny or Mitsukuni when you're talking to me. I don't own you."

I nodded sheepishly.

"Thank you, Hunny. I don't know what my brother and I would do without your family."

"You'd be in jail!" He beamed and dragged my chagrinned self to the kitchen. "Let's go eat some sweets, Kotori-chan!"

"Hey Hunny?"

He turned around and looked at me questioningly.

"Um, you can call me Koto. It's what Takumi calls me, and what my parents called me." I finished in a whisper. He gave me a small smile and squeezed my hand.

We went into the kitchen and found Choko putting icing on some cupcakes. Hunny rubbed his hands together and licked his lips at the sight of the cupcakes. It was seriously adorable. Choko noticed me behind Hunny and nearly dropped the icing tube. She ran over and hugged me tightly. A huge glob of icing squirted out from the tube and landed on my face.

"Oh goodness, dear. I was so worried when I heard what had happened! Are you alright? I knew that Yuuji would cause problems with one of the girls eventually!"

Once she let go of me, I staggered back to try and catch my breath. I froze when I felt Hunny drag his finger across my cheek to swipe the icing off og my face. He made sure he got most of it, slowly stuck his finger in his mouth, and licked off all the icing. I nearly passed out from shock. He made a contented noise and grinned at me devilishly.

"That was tastier than normal, Koto-chan."

I shook my head and grabbed one of the cupcakes that Choko had finished, shoving it in my mouth to avoid answering Hunny.

**So, in my brief spans of internet time, I have these crazy urges to write chapter after chapter of this story and update it stat. Then I poof for a couple weeks to do hospital-related things and then poof back in and write a thousand more chapters. Sorry for the unpredictability of my updates! Review if you want, but no pressure! Also, let me know if Hunny is getting too OOC and I'll try to rein him in...**


	9. Chapter 9

**Bloodyrosethorns, thank you for all that feedback. I'm not super confident/knowledgeable about how to make Hunny romantic or how to portray him being flirty aside from constant cake eating (which gets real old, real quick IMO). Since I feel like the anime (haven't read all the manga yet) never delves into this topic, I'm winging it. Thanks for that response, it really made me feel a bit better about this story and gave me a little direction!**

After we finished eating the cupcakes, I looked at the clock and noticed it was nearly midnight. My eye throbbed when I tried to look up at the clock. I winced and Hunny looked over at me.

"What's wrong, Koto-chan?"

"Nothing," I said, but I instantly betrayed myself when I reached up to cover my eye. He got up and leaned his head in close to look at it. He reached up and gingerly felt around where it was swollen. I flinched away and my eyes teared up. Hunny looked at me anxiously.

"Koto-chan, I-I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, it just really hurts. Don't worry I'm sure it will go away soon."

I stood up and almost bumped him in the forehead. I couldn't take being this close to him anymore. I was starting to feel things I definitely _should not_ be feeling and the way he was being so attentive and adorable was certainly not helping.

"I think I just need to go and get some sleep."

Hunny nodded and followed me back to my room, where I flopped onto the bed. He stood at the door and looked over at me.

"Still up for shopping tomorrow? I'll come find you after practice, okay?"

I nodded and he gave me a little smile before starting to shut the door. Right before he closed it, I heard him whisper "Goodnight, Koto." I turned on my side and promptly fell asleep.

_I was walking down a dark hallway and I couldn't see where I was going. I called out for Takumi, but he never answered. An arm reached out and grabbed me and threw me to the ground._

_"Help!"_

_The dark figure loomed over me and breathed heavily, and I was too scared to move. The figure reached down and started to suffocate me. I thrashed around but couldn't get free. The edges of my vision were going black._

_"Takumi! Mitsukuni!"_

I awoke with a start and rolled off the bed onto the floor. My heart was pounding and I was breathing quickly. _It was only a dream,_ I thought to myself as I sat on the edge of my bed. A thin film of sweat covered my forehead and I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. I stood up and rummaged through the closet, trying to find the least baggy outfit possible. After dressing, I tied my hair back and slid open the door. It was still dark outside, so I literally had no idea what time it was. I headed toward the kitchen because that was the only place I could think of that had a clock.

When I got near the kitchen, I saw that a light was on inside. I peered around the corner to see Choko beginning to make breakfast. She turned around and seemed surprised to see me standing there.

"Kotori? I thought the Haninozukas gave you the day off?"

"Yes, but I awoke early for some reason. Do you need any help, Choko?"

She thought for a moment and then pointed her finger in the air like an idea had sprouted.

"Yes actually! Can you check on Eiko and the other maids? They're mustering up the courage to wake up Master Mitsukuni."

I looked at the clock to it was 5:00, even earlier than if he'd had to get up for school. He would no doubt be a hypotensive beast when they tried to wake him. I followed the winding hallways toward the wing that held the bedrooms. A group of women was huddled in front of Hunny's door muttering and working on something. I peeked around one of them and saw Eiko in the center, near tears.

"Eiko! What's wrong?"

"Oh, Kotori! I drew the short straw and now I have to wake him up." The other maids were fanning her and giving her tips on how to best avoid injury.

"This is ridiculous. I'll do it," I said with exasperation. No one should be this afraid to wake someone up. I brushed past the group of maids, who gasped and whispered at my bravery. They encouraged me and gave me little cheers, but I could barely hear it. How could someone terrorize so many innocent women who were just following orders?

I flung the door open and light shined in on Hunny. He stirred a little at this, but made no movement to wake up. The maids gathered behind me for moral support (more for them, than me).

"Wake up." I said flatly.

No answer.

"Wake up!" I said louder.

I heard a low growl come from the bed and I knew it was about to start. Hunny was so adorable during the day, but he was horrible in the morning. I walked over to the bed and started to sit down when he flung his leg out of the bed and tried to kick at me. I grabbed his ankle and held in place so he wouldn't be able to kick me in the face. He squinted over his shoulder to see what was going on.

"Mitsukuni, you need to wake up _now_."

"Koto?"

He sat up in bed and dug his fists into his eyes, rubbing them. A huge yawn came from his mouth and he looked at me sleepily.

"Are you awake?" I asked apprehensively.

"Yes."

I turned and looked at the other maids, who were wide-eyed with disbelief. Eiko clapped her hands lightly and beamed at me proudly. They all walked toward the kitchen, relieved that they had lived to see another day. I turned back to Hunny, who looked at me expectantly.

"Hunny, why can't you wake up nicely for anyone else?"

He shrugged.

"I dunno, Koto-chan."

"Eiko was supposed to wake you up and she was nearly in tears from the thought of doing so."

"Really?" He asked in wonder.

"Yes, Mitsukuni, really."

He giggled and I gave him a weird look.

"You used my real name. I like it!" He said bashfully.

"I've used your name before-"

"Yeah but you always said 'Master' in front of it and I hate that. This time it's like we're friends or something!"

He bounced out of bed and started to grab his uniform for practice. I exited his room and shut the door.


End file.
